Tutorial: Gold-Vision Connect

TUTORIAL:
Gold-Vision Connect
Tutorial Objectives:
Gold-Vision Connect
What is GV Connect?
Getting Started
Designing Your Template
 What are Mailshot templates
 What is the Media Library
 Image Library
 Document Library
Mailshot Templates
 Creating a Template
 Uploading a Template
 Viewing Templates
 Editing a Templates
 Editing and Formatting Text
 Images, Tables, Links, Custom Links, Anchors and
Template Tags
 Design Tips
Mailshots
 What are Mailshots
 Applying a Template to a Mailshot
 Attachments
 Plain Text Version
 Recipients
 Previewing Mailshots
 Mailshot Spam Score
 Sending a Mailshot
 Tracking and Reporting
 Forward, Unsubscribers and Replies
 Exporting Data
 Viewing Mailshots
 Viewing all Replies
 Synchronising with Gold-Vision
Contacts
 Contacts
 Unsubscribers
 Double opt-Ins
Settings
 User and Administrative Settings
 Creating a Gold-Vision Alert
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TUTORIAL:
Gold-Vision Connect
What is Gold-Vision Connect?
Gold-Vision Connect is an online contact management service that integrates with Gold-Vision CRM.
Currently, Gold-Vision Connect allows you to send targeted direct marketing emails to your Gold-Vision
Contacts and track responses.
The Gold-Vision Connect Process
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TUTORIAL:
Gold-Vision Connect
Accessing Gold-Vision Connect:
Tools  Gold-Vision Connect
Or from the Gold-Vision Connect tab in the list of
Campaigns.
You can also login to Gold-Vision Connect via:
http://portal.gv-c.com Enter username and
password
 Gold-Vision Connect Home Page
The Gold-Vision Connect home page shows:



News items
Recent Events – mailshots accessed, sent, uploaded, images uploaded or deleted etc.
Recent Mail shots – most recent mail shots which have been uploaded
Click on the Recent Event or Mailshot to open the item.
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Gold-Vision Connect
 Getting Started
Navigation
To navigate through the main system areas, please use the main menu at the top of the screen. To
open a menu section, click on one of the title words from the menu. A sub menu will appear with
related options. Click on one of the sub menu option to navigate to that section.
Contacts
This shows a list of all contacts uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect, all unsubscribed and Double Opt-In
contacts.
Mailshots
Mailshots are Gold-Vision Campaigns that have been uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect to be sent as
trackable emails. Emails can be fully designed using the WYSIWYG editor including images,
attachments and click-thru links. Responses, click-thrus, bounce-backs, unsubscribes can all be
tracked and reported on
Media
The Media Library is a repository for images and documents. It allows you to upload and store media
for use later in mailshots for example. A range of image and document types can be uploaded to the
library and are shared between you and your colleagues with similar access to Gold-Vision connect.
Settings
Under settings you can update your contact details, change your password, change program settings
and view available credit.
Help
Access to Online help and Support
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Designing your Template
 What are Templates
Templates allow you to create and edit the body of an email independently of a Mailshot. The main
reasons for using a Mailshot template are that you can re-use the design between Mailshots and also
work on a design before having uploaded a Gold-Vision Campaign to Gold-Vision Connect. Templates
can be applied to a Mailshot under the design tab
 Media Library
The Media Library is a repository for images and documents. It allows you to upload and store media
for use later in Mailshots or forms for example. A range of image and document types can be
uploaded to the library and are shared between you and your colleagues with similar access to GoldVision connect.
When an image or document is uploaded to the Media Library it is stored live on the Gold-Vision
Connect public web server under a unique link. You can add images to Mailshots and also create links
to your documents or alternatively attach them to Mailshots.
 Image Library
The Image Library is a repository where you can upload images to Gold-Vision Connect for later use.
Images of type bmp, jpg, gif and png can be uploaded. There is an enforced file size restriction on
250kb per image. Uploaded images are shared between you and any colleagues with a Gold-Vision
Connect login.
JPG – High compression which means they are very good for larger images like photos because they
take up less byte space. They are not very good for smaller images with strong colour contrast (such
as textual content) as the compression causes an undesirable, blur “fringing” effect.
GIF – Maintains colours so very good for textual images. Can have “transparent” regions. Limited to
256 colours, so poor for photos or images with high blended colours. Good for Company logos.
PNG – Similar to GIF but with more colours. Down side is that the file size tends to be larger.
BMP – Similar to PNG but tend to be even larger still. Not recommended.
NOTE: background images are not supported by most email readers. Background colours are
supported; however, heavy use of high contrast colours can be seen as a “spam” type email.
Uploaded images can be added to mailshots or templates whilst using the HTML editor tool.
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 The Image Library
The Image Library is a location where you can upload and organise images for later-use in mailshot or other
designs. To open the Image Library:
1.
2.
Click Media from the main menu
Click Images from the sub menu
Uploading Images
To upload new images follow the instructions below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click the Upload Image button that is displayed towards the top of the screen
A dialog will appear prompting you to select a file
Click the Select Image button and select an image from your computer
The image will automatically upload
Please Note: There is a maximum image size restriction displayed on the upload dialog. You cannot upload
images larger than this.
Searching for Images
To search for an image use the standard search
control at the top of the page. You can search by file
name, size or date of upload.
Once you have found the image you are looking for,
click hover over the thumbnail and click 'Preview' to
preview it.
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Deleting Images
To delete an image, click hover over the thumbnail
and click Delete. You will be asked to confirm - click
Delete to confirm.
Organising Images in Folders
Images can be organised into folders. Media (images and documents) can be moved into folders to help with
organisation. The list of media folders is visible on both the document and image lists.
The default folder option shows all images/documents from all folders and is useful for overall searching.
Opening a Folder
To open the contents of a media folder, click on its
name from the list on the left of the screen. The list of
media items to the right will refresh and the contents
of the folder you clicked on will be shown.
Adding New Folders
To add new folders simply enter the name you wish
to use in the box at the bottom of the folder list and
click the 'Add' button. The image below illustrates
this.
Deleting Folders
To delete a folder, click the delete/trash icon to the right of the folder name. You will be prompted to confirm click Delete to confirm. The image below shows how to delete a folder.
Please Note: If you delete a folder, all the sub-media within that folder will also be deleted.
Moving Items
To move items between folders you must click the Move link that appears against the media item and then
select a folder to move the item to. In the case of images the Move link appears when you hover over the
preview whereas for documents the Move link appears in the list.
The image below shows how to move a document.
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 Document Library
The Document Library is a repository where you can upload documents to Gold-Vision Connect for
later use. Documents of type doc(x), xls(x), zip, ppt, pdf and txt can be uploaded. Uploaded
documents are shared between you and any colleagues with a Gold-Vision Connect login.
Uploaded documents can be added to Mailshots as attachments or links whilst using the HTML editor
tool.
To open the Document Library:
1. Click Media from the main menu
2. Click Documents from the sub menu
Uploading Documents
To upload new documents follow the instructions below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click the Upload Document button that is displayed towards the top of the screen
A dialog will appear prompting you to select a file
Click the Select Document button and select a document from your computer
The document will automatically upload
Please Note: There is a maximum document size and also type (doc, pdf etc) restriction displayed on
the upload dialog. You cannot upload images larger than this restriction or of other types.
Searching for Documents
To search for a document use the standard search control at the top of the page. You can search by
file name, size or date of upload. Once you have found the document you are looking for, click on the
name in the list to open/download it.
Deleting Documents
To delete a document, click the 'delete' or 'trash' icon to the right of the list item as shown in the
image below.
You will be asked to confirm the delete - click Delete to confirm. Organising Documents in Folders
Documents can be organised into folders. To learn more about media folders, see Image Library
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Templates
 Creating a Template
Creating a Template
Templates can be created in several ways – using the design tool, copying another template, copying a
mailshot or they can created using an html package and uploaded into Gold-Vision Connect/
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click Mailshots > Templates from the mail menu
Click the New button
You will be navigated to an empty editor page
Edit your template design and click the 'Save' icon to save your design
5.
Alternatively click the link to copy another design. Select from the options and search for a design to
apply.
 Uploading a Template
Mailshot templates can be uploaded in the form of a zip file containing html and images. This will allow
you to quickly apply templates that you or an external agency have designed using an html package
such as DreamWeaver.
One-Click Template Upload You can quickly upload an html page and multiple images in one step.
Simply zip the files together into a single file and upload it using the template upload page.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click Mailshots > Templates from the mail menu
You will be navigated to a list of templates
Click the Upload Template button.
A dialog will open prompting you to select your zip file
Select your zip file from your computer and the upload will process automatically
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The html page will be turned into a mailshot template and any images automatically will be added
to the media library
Please note the following restrictions
 Include all style in the HTML file
 Any images should be relatively referenced or hosted online
 Do not use external CSS files
 Try to avoid background images
 Viewing Templates
Templates can be viewed from Mailshots > Templates
This will show a list of all templates.
 Editing A Template
Editing a Template
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click Mailshots > Templates from the mail menu
You will be navigated to a list of templates
Click on the name of the template in the list to open it for editing.
You will be navigated to the template designer
Click the Save button to save your changes
The template designer uses the same editor as the mailshot designer. Learn how to insert images or
personalised tags. To learn more about the editor in general, see Editing Your Mailshot or Template.
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 Editing Your Mailshot or Template using the HTML Editor
The HTML editor included in Gold-Vision Connect offers WYSIWYG design of HTML content. It is
comprehensive in its functionality whilst relatively simple to use.
Text, images and visual content can be inserted, drag-and-dropped, copy-and-pasted, formatted and
styled all using the in-built toolbar controls.
Most common Windows keyboard shortcuts also work (ctrl+c, ctrl+v, ctrl+x, ctrl+z etc).
 The Editor at a Glance
The editor is split into three main areas.
1. The toolbar is situated at the top of the screen and contains most of the controls. This can be
used to control the format and style of your document as well as insert images and links. For
a list of toolbar controls, see below
2. In the centre of the screen is a large window containing the page content. This is where you
can paste, type or insert the actual content of the document. Use the mouse or cursor keys to
position the cursor and start typing. Alternatively highlight some text and use the toolbar
controls to change the style or format.
3. At the bottom of the screen is a smaller toolbar where you can switch between Design and
HTML views of the document and also navigate and edit the Tag Tree.
 Entering Text
Text can be entered directly into the editor. Simply position the cursor where you would like to enter
some text and start typing.
Text can also be copied and pasted from other text sources such as Microsoft Word, Notepad or
similar. When text is copied from a source like Word, the editor attempts to maintain all style (bold,
colour etc) already applied to the text when you copied it.
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 Formatting Text
Choosing a Font
Fonts and font size can be modified by using the appropriate dropdowns from the toolbar.
Simply position the cursor into the text you would like to change or highlight some text and select a
new font or size. In the example below, we change some text to Verdana Size 4.
1. Position the cursor inside
some text or highlight it
2. From the Font dropdown
select Verdana
3. From the Size dropdown
select Size 4
Font Style and Colour
Format and style changes can be made using the toolbar controls at the top of the screen. The
typical way to do this is to move the cursor to the text location or highlight some text and then use
one of the toolbar controls to modify the style. In the example below, we look at making some text
bold and red.
1. Move the cursor to the
location you would like to
change the format for or
highlight some text
2. Click the Bold toolbar
button (
) to make the
text bold
3. Next click the arrow next
to the Font Color control
(
) and select Red
Text Justification
Text can be justified left, right, centre or justified. This is performed by selecting a paragraph of text
and choosing one of the justification options. In the example below we look at making a paragraph of
text aligned to the centre
1. Click or move the cursor
into roughly the middle on
a paragraph or line of text
2. From the toolbar choose
the centre justification
option (
)
3. The text will align to the
centre of its containing
element
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 Inserting Images
Images can be uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect via the Image Library and inserted using the HTML
editor. To insert an image, please follow the instructions below. See Image Library for more
information about image types.
1. Click the Insert Image button (
) from the toolbar.
2. An Add Image window will open
3. Select an Image from the list, or select a folder, either Insert or Preview the image. To upload
a new image, click the Upload New button.
4. The image will be inserted into the editor window
Moving and Resizing Images
Once the image has been inserted it can
be moved by using drag-and-drop or
resized by
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 Inserting Tables
Select Insert Table from the Editor toolbar
Using the Wizard select the number of rows and
columns required
Once the table has been inserted the cells, rows
or table can be formatted
Click on the table to activate the table tag tree at
the bottom of the screen.
Select <table> to select the whole table
Select <tr> to select the whole row
Select <td> to select the cell
To change the Font Colour or Highlight of the
table/row or cell colour chose from the selection
or chose more colours and select from the
colour palette.
Select Style to amend the font, colour, highlight
and alignment.
Select Properties to change row/column size,
background colour, borders as well as format
the text.
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Adding/Deleting Rows or Columns
Click on the table, select <table> at the bottom
of the screen and select properties.
To add rows or columns click the - +
Merging Cells
To merge/unmerge cells to the right click in the
cell then select ColSpan + or To merge/unmerge cells down click in the cell
then select RowsSpan + or You will see the effect of the changes on the
table as you make the changes
You can also select from Table Layout
dropdown menu
Editing the Table
Changing the size of the table
From the Table Wizard select Table
Amend the Width, Height, Alignment of the table
Colour
Click on Background/Border colour to select
your background or border colour
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 Adding Links
One of the most power features of Gold-Vision Connects Mailshots is the ability to track which
recipients have clicked on which links within your mailshot. In order for this to be possible, special
action-links must be added to the mailshot at design time. Please note that you should have the
mailshot open for editing and be familiar with the editor.
Adding an Action-Link
1.
Click-and-select to highlight some text or an image you would like to link
2.
3.
4.
5.
Click the Link toolbar button (
)
A new window will open prompting for a URL
Enter the URL you would like to link to
Click OK
Removing a Link
To remove a link, click the cursor into the middle of the linked text or click once on the linked image
and then click the un-link toolbar button (
).
 Adding Custom Links
Gold-Vision Connect supports several types of custom link that allow you to provide specific
functionality to the end recipients.
To select a custom link you must first open the mailshot in the Designer and then click the 'Custom
Links' drop down box from the toolbar.
1. Click-To-Forward - allows end recipients to
forward your email whilst you track the
event.
2. Click-To-Read - end recipients can click on
to read your email in a browser.
3. Opt-In - allows end recipients to 'Double-OptIn' to your mail shots.
4. Preferences - Allow end recipients to
manage their mail preferences as defined by
you under your Mail Campaign Type
Settings. (more detail to follow)
5. Unsubscribe - custom 'unsubscribe' link.
Contact Update - Allow your recipients to update
their contact details as defined by you under your
Contact Update Settings. See Administrator
Settings for more information.
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Adding Anchors
Page anchors allow visitors to jump to a specific place in the current webpage or to jump to a
specific place on another web page.
You usually use page anchors if you want a graphic or text to link half way down another page. That
way your visitor doesn't have read all through the page to get to the bit their interested in.
To create a link that points to another place on the same webpage, you need to create two anchors:
 a named anchor in the spot that you are going to jump to
 an anchor in the spot that you are going to jump from
Anchor links are links to locations elsewhere within the design. They are useful for jumping from
summary information at the start of your mail to detailed information further down.
Step 1 - Creating an Anchor
(Destination)
1. Open your mailshot for
design
2. Highlight a word or text that
you would like to make the
designation anchor
3. Click the anchor icon from
the tool bar ( )
4. Enter a name (do not use
spaces)
5. Click Insert
Step 2 - Linking to the Anchor
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Highlight a word or text that you would like to link from
Click the link icon from the menu (
)
A link dialog will appear
Click the 'Select a named anchor in the current page' box
Select your anchor from the list
Click OK

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 Template Tags
Template tags allow you to personalise your mailshot body to include sender and recipient names and
contact details. Please note that you should have the mailshot open for editing and be familiar with the
editor.
Inserting a Template Tag
1.
2.
3.
4.
Click the cursor where you would like to insert the tag
Click the Template Tags drop control from the toolbar
Click on a Tag Name
The tag will be inserted at the cursor location
In the example below, the text "Dear" has been entered followed by a space. Next, the "Recipient First Name" tag has been selected. This will be inserted directly after the space.
How Do Template Tags Work?
Template tags are stored as text in the email body and are replaced when the mailshot is previewed
or sent with the corresponding data. For example the tag
[DATA:FIRST_NAME=Sir/Madam]
might be replaced with the name
Andrew
Hence the text "Dear [DATA:FIRST_NAME]" might become "Dear Andrew".
If there is no data in the first name field, this will be replaced with Sir/Madam
Sir/madam can be amended as required e.g Customer or Member
When you click the Preview tab under a mailshot, you will be navigated to the mailshot preview page.
Any template tags will be replaced with data and any tags that did not contain data will be listed under
a warning message.
 Saving or Discarding Changes
Saving Changes
It is important to save your changes before navigating away from the editor page. To do this click the
Save button (
) from the toolbar.
Discarding Changes
If you are not happy with your changes and would like to discard them, simply click the Discard
Changes button (
) and confirm.
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Design Tips
Can I use my own designer for example DreamWeaver?
Yes, you can design emails using DreamWeaver or a similar tool and then upload them as a template
email to Gold-Vision Connect.
1. Create a single HTML page in DreamWeaver
2. Ensure any images are stored locally to the HTML page and reference using an <img> tag
(not CSS)
3. Do not use any external CSS stylesheets, include the CSS in the <head> tag
4. ZIP the HTML document and all images into a single ZIP file
5. From the Mailshots -> Templates page select the “Upload a Template” open
6. Select your ZIP file and click “Upload”
Can I use Word or MS Office to design Emails?
Avoid pasting content directly from MS Word into the designer. Doing this causes huge volumes of
extra data to be added. Instead, please try pasting the text into Notepad and then re-copy it and past it
into the designer. By pasting it into Notepad and then re-copying it, you remove any Word font or
formatting.
Text
It is important to include at least some textual content in paragraph form because makes the email
more legitimate. Emails containing just images with no textual content at all often become blocked or
filtered. Images containing text do not count.
Enter the content first before applying any style. Type / paste in all the content in “plain text” before
attempting to change any fonts or styles. By approaching the design in this order you will reduce the
number of times you need to apply font or style to a given section and this in turn will avoid the
problems that occurred with this particular mail shot.
Avoiding Spam
If you carry out email marketing campaigns and keep getting emails blocked before they reach your
customers, then the chances are you're using too many words that look like spam. How does this
work? Well every occurrence that is suspicious attracts points, and a high overall score for your mail
means it'll get blocked. Scores vary depending on the software used, or how it is configured for the
client, but rest assured, you'll also look like a spammer for telling everyone it's FREE! or that they can
SIGN UP NOW!, so consider your wording carefully.
Subject Line
Consider the audience and think about the „what‟s in it for me?‟ principle. Don‟t promise anything that
the body of the email doesn‟t deliver
When to send
If you are sending regular newsletters send them at the same time of day, recipients will then come to
expect your newsletter
Further information:
Direct Marketing Association Email Marketing Council, Best Practice Guidelines June 2007
http://www.dma.org.uk/_attachments/Resources/230_S4.pdf
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 What Are Mailshots
Mailshots are Gold-Vision Campaigns that have been uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect to be sent as
trackable emails. Emails can be fully designed using the HTML editor or a software design package
such as DreamWeaver, including images, attachments and click-thru links. Responses, click-thrus,
bounce-backs, unsubscribes can all be tracked and reported on and synchronised back to Gold-Vision.
Please see the Gold-Vision Campaigns Tutorial for instructions on creating a Gold-Vision
Campaign.
Select a Type from the dropdown and select Email as the Medium.
Uploading a Campaign to Gold-Vision Connect
Once a Campaign has been created in GoldVision, it can be uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect
as a new mailshot. To "Run" a Campaign in this
way, select
Run > Export to Gold-Vision Connect from the
Campaign menu in Gold-Vision.
Click Yes
You will receive an email confirming the upload of the Campaign to Gold Vision Connect
Once completed, a Mailshot within same name will appear on your Home Page – Recent Mailshots
(see image below) and under your My Mailshots list in Gold-Vision Connect
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 Applying a template to a Mailshot
When you upload a Gold-Vision Campaign to
Gold-Vision Connect, a new Mailshot will be
created with the same name as the source
Campaign. You will be able to see the new
Mailshot under the My Mailshots list from
Gold-Vision Connect or Recent Mailshots on
the Homepage.
When you first select the mailshot, you will be
asked if you would like to apply a template to
the design. If so, click Select Template and
chose from your list of user templates,
mailshots or stock templates.
You can also copy a mailshot or use a stock template
Once a Template has been selected you will be asked if you want to overwrite the design with this
Template. Click OK.
From Addresses
From the main design section you must specify one or more 'From' addresses. These are the
addresses that your mail shot will be sent on behalf of and also what the end recipient will see.
To edit the 'From' addresses click the 'From' label as shown in the image below.
A dialog box will load as shown in the image below. This will allow you to add and remove 'From'
addresses from your mail shot.
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Please Note: It is possible to add multiple 'From' addresses to a single mail shot. When doing this a
random 'From' address will be used per recipient when the mail shot is sent. Using this functionality
can improve deliverability, especially if you mail to large numbers of Hotmail, Live, Yahoo, Gmail or
similar addresses.
To add a new 'From' address enter the pre-@ and name you wish to use and then click the Add
button. Click the small delete/trash icon to remove addresses and finally click Save when you are
complete.
Subjects
From the main design section you must specify one or more Subjects. These are the subjects that
will be displayed to the end recipient when your mail shot is sent.
To edit the Subjects click the Subject label as shown in the image below.
A dialog box will load as shown in the image below. This will allow you to edit the Subject for your
mail shot.
Please Note: It is possible to add multiple
Subjects to a single mail shot. When doing
this a random Subject will be used per
recipient when the mail shot is sent. Using
this functionality can improve deliverability,
especially if you mail to large numbers of
Hotmail, Live, Yahoo, Gmail or similar
addresses.
To edit the Subjects select between Single
and Multiple and enter the subject lines as
required
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 Attachments
When you are designing a mailshot, before it is sent, you have the option of attaching documents from
the Media Library. See Media Library section for further details. Attached documents will be sent as
attachment when the mailshot is previewed and/or sent.
Adding Attachments
To add an attachment to a pre-sent mailshot, please follow the instructions below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Open the mailshot
Click the Design tab
Click the Add link next to the Attachments field
A new window will open entitled Add Attachment
Either select a Document from the list by clicking on the name (or Upload a new one)
Removing Attachments
To remove an attachment, click the delete/cross icon next to the attachment name.
Linking to Documents (An Alternative to using Attachments)
Adding attachments to your mailshot increases the overall size of the email being sent and could
potentially cause it to be blocked or the attachment removed. An alternative to attaching a document
is to include a click-thru link to it within the body of the email. For more information see Adding Links.
 Plain Text Version
Advanced users may wish to take advantage of the ability to edit the Plain Text version of the email.
By default an automatic Plain Text version of your mail shot will be created and sent as part of the
mail email to aid those recipients who choose not to view rich-content emails.
If you wish to provide your own version of the Plain Text part of the email follow the instructions
below.
1. Click the Design tab under the mail
shot screen
2. Click the Plain Text tab
3. Click the Custom Plain Text button
4. Enter your text in the box provided
5. Click Save
6. Ensure you save any design changes
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 Recipients
When recipients are uploaded to Gold-Vision Connect a further validity check is run.
To view Invalid Recipients select Invalid Only and click search.
The above shows examples of invalid email addresses
 Previewing a Mailshot
One of the most important factors of sending a mailshot through Gold-Vision Connect is being able to
preview emails before they are sent. This allows you to check that the design appears as you
expected and that any personalised template tags are replaced correctly.
It is extremely important to send preview test emails before actually sending the mailshot. This will
allow you to review how the email is delivered, rendered and displayed in your inbox. If there are any
issues then they can be resolved using the designer before sending the mailshot to the final
recipients.
1.
2.
3.
4.
From the mail shot screen click the Preview tab
Enter the email address you would like to send the test to
Click the Send button
After a brief pause a message will display confirming the preview has been queued.
Alternatively you can preview in a browser window:
Please Note: Previews are normally delivered instantly; however, they can take several minutes
depending on your mail server.
When you are happy with the mailshot, you are ready to send it.
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 Mailshot Spam Score
Gold-Vision Connect runs a copy of SpamAssasin that allows you to check your mail shot for SPAM
score before sending. To run a spam check follow the instructions below.
1.
2.
3.
4.
Ensure you have saved your current design
Under the mail shot screen click the Spam tab
Click the Run Spam Check button
After a few seconds the score and details will appear below
 Sending a Mailshot
Once you are happy with the design, content and layout of your email and have sent a preview you
are probably ready to send it. It is important to double-check every aspect of the mailshot before
sending as the send process cannot be stopped once started To begin the sending process, open
your mailshot and click the Send tab. This will navigate you to a page where you can choose various
settings and ultimately send the mailshot.
Pre-Send Options
Under the Send tab there are several options, these are outlined below
Confirmation Checkboxes - There are three confirmation checkboxes on the final send screen.
These must all be checked to be able to send the mailshot. Please only check the options if you agree
with statements next to them.

Forward Replies Address - Enter an address to forward replies to if you have chosen to
forward replies under 'settings'.

Link to Images - When images are linked an online reference to the image will be included in
the body of your email. This will make the email smaller in size and should also improve
deliverability. When using this option recipients may be prompted to 'show images' when they
read your email.

Include Beacon - A beacon is a small hidden image within the mailshot body that will allow
Gold-Vision Connect to track and report on the number of recipients who have opened or read
your email. The inclusion of the beacon is optional because some anti-spam software will look
for these; hence including one may up your spam index.

Send Now or Schedule - You have the option of sending the mail shot immediately or
alternatively sending it later on a schedule.
When you are happy with your options continue with the sending process, please see below.
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Sending the Mailshot
To continue the sending process, click the Send button at the bottom. This will prompt you to confirm
before finally processing the send request.
Once the mailshot has been "sent", you will gain access to the Tracking and Reporting tabs. These
will allow you to track the progress and responses to your mailshot. Please note that if you chose to
"schedule" the mailshot you must wait until it has sent before gaining access to the reporting tabs.
 Tracking
To open the Tracking section click the Tracking tab. A list of valid recipients can be viewed by
selecting the relevant tab and click search









All – A full list of all the recipients for this mailshot.
Delivered - The email for this recipient has been delivered to the recipient's mail server
successfully
Bounce - Sending failed or the email bounced back.
Opened - If a "beacon" was included when the email was sent and/or the recipient opened
the email and all images or clicked through or replied.
Click-thru - The recipient clicked on one or more trackable links from the mailshot body. To
find out which links, click the Reporting tab
Unsubscribed - The recipient chose to fully "unsubscribe" from all future email
correspondence from you.
Replied - The recipient replied to your email.
Forwarded - The recipient forwarded your email using the built-in forward link.
Info - Clicking on this icon will display detailed information regarding the recipient.
To view and download more advanced tracking data please see the Export section.
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 Reporting
To open the Reporting section click the Reporting tab. The reporting page shows graphical
information regarding the tracking data as well as detailed information regarding click-thrus and read
dates and times.
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 Forward Links
What Happens to Forward this email clicks?
Record of clicks for forward this email (custom link in the mailshot) are included in the reporting area
in Gold-Vision Connect
Clicking the link will provide the details of the mail recipient who has forwarded the email.
Connect cannot pick up email addresses of those forwarded to as this would be contrary to data
protection best practice guidelines as it would be picking up email details of someone who has not
positively opted in to your mail campaigns.
If someone who has been forwarded to then emails the Connect from address this email will be lost
as they are not a valid recipient of the mail campaign. This is to protect against spam and to follow
best practice guidelines.
 Unsubscribers
What Happens to Unsubscribers?
Recipients that have "fully" unsubscribed through Gold-Vision Connect will be synchronised back into
Gold-Vision as part of the above process. The following changes are made automatically in GoldVision against the Contact.

The Email Contact Preference will be un-checked. This will mean they will be an invalid
recipient in email Campaigns
 A new Note will be added against the contact describing that they have chosen to
unsubscribe via Gold-Vision Connect
See Contact section for more info on Unsubscribed Contacts
 Replies
Mail shot Replies allows the viewing of e-mails that have been sent in response to the mail shot.
Viewing and Deleting Mail Shot Replies
To view a list of Replies for the Mailshot, click the Replies tab.
To view a mail shot Reply, simply click on the underlined Subject of the e-mail. If you are happy to
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allow the e-mail to open, then click on I Agree to accept the risk of opening a potentially unsafe e-mail,
and it will open in a new window.
To forward the email click Forward to and enter an email address
To delete the mail shot reply, click the delete icon:
Please Note: Gold-Vision Connect does not store replies to mail shots indefinitely. Any mail
shot Reply more than three months old will be permanently deleted.
To be classed as a Reply the recipient will have clicked Reply and the body of the original
mailshot will therefore be included as part of the Reply
If an email has been sent to the Connect email address e.g. [email protected] these emails
can be viewed in the replies section – Mailshots – Replies. For more information see below
 Exporting data
Download/Export Data
If you would like to export your Connect data into CSV format then click the Export tab from a sent
mail shot. Please note that you will only be able to do this after the mail shot has completed sending.
Tracking Data
Click-Thru Data
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 Viewing Mailshots
To view a list of mailshots click the Mail shots menu and the All Mail shots from the sub menu that
appears. If you prefer to just see your own mail shots then select My Mail Shots instead.
Searching Mail Shots
Mail shots can be searched and filtered by using the standard search control at the top of the screen.
Please note there are numerous additional search options available under the More Options button.
The Recipients, Open and Click-Thru sliders help you search for large, small or particularly
effective mail shots. The date range and status filters allow you to search for a mailshot that was
uploaded previously and/or is in a particular state.
Opening a Mail Shot
To open a mail shot item simply click on the name link that appears at the top of the mail shot list
box. The image below shows where to click.
Please Note: You cannot open mail shots that are currently uploading.
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 Viewing All Replies
Replies can be viewed globally form the Replies tab in the Mailshot section:
From the Reply list screen you can:
1)
Open each reply
2)
Click through to the related Mailshot
3)
Forward the email reply to another email such as one of your colleagues who you
may wish to make contact to the recipient quickly.
Replies can also be viewed in the same way for each individual Mail Shot from the Replies tab:
See Administration Settings – Mailshots for more information about forwarding replies.
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 Synchronising with Gold-Vision
Synchronising with Gold-Vision
One of Gold-Vision Connect's most powerful features is the automatic synchronisation of data back
into Gold-Vision. For mailshots this is done in the form of tracking (read, click, bounce...) data back
into the Gold-Vision Campaign Run itself.
You will be able to monitor the data from within the Campaign Runs screen from within a Campaign.
 Viewing Campaign Records within Gold-Vision
The primary location for viewing Gold-Vision Connect Mailshot data
in Gold-Vision is under the Campaign Run
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Open Gold-Vision
Click View > Campaigns or click the Campaigns icon
A list of Campaigns will be displayed
Click a Campaign that you have sent via Gold-Vision
Connect
The Campaign will open in a new window
From the lower Details/Blue-bar Item menu select Runs
Click on a Run that was sent to Gold-Vision Connect
The Recipients list will open in a new window
The tracking data will appear next to the recipients in this list
Click on the Gold-Vision Connect Run. This will show the recipients and their click-thru information
Using the lists options the list can be filtered down and another campaign run by clicking the campaign
icon.
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Viewing Click-Thru Data
Click the link – Click here to view Click-Thru data
This will show you all the Click-Thru data from Gold-Vision Connect.
Use the list options to filter down and create a follow up Campaign as above.
For example you may wish to filter the list down by a specific link, in this example to the Training
Schedule page on a website:
Click Campaign to create a follow up Campaign based on filtered click-thru data.
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 Viewing Connect Data in Gold-Vision
Select the Account or Contact in Gold-Vision
Click on the details menu and select Campaigns
Select Campaigns to see the all Campaigns which
this Account has been included in
Select Click-Thrus to see all Action links which have
been clicked in a Connect Mailshot
Using the lists options the list can be filtered and items can be selected
Viewing Click-Thru data from a Contact record
Using the lists options the list can be filtered and items can be selected
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Viewing Connect Preferences
In this example the recipient has selected to
recieve Newsletters and Event Lists but not Press
Releases.
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 Contacts
A list of all contacts uploaded to Connect can be found under the Contacts menu.
1. Click the Contacts from the main menu
2. Click the Contacts sub-menu item
3. A list of your Contacts will load
You can use the standard search facility at the top of the screen to filter the list of Contacts. As well as
name, email and other details you can also filter by the contact status.



All - Will display all contacts that match your other filters
Double Opt-In - Will only display contacts who have double-opted-in
Unsubscribed - Will only display contact who have fully unsubscribed from your mailings
Favorite lists can also be saved for easy reference, for example you could have a favourite list that
has been filtered by email address such as “Hotmail” or a favorite list filtered by an Account name.
Viewing and Managing Preferences
As part of your mail shot design you are able to allow your recipient contacts to update their details and
preferences. To view the screen that a particular contact will see when managing their preferences
click the cog icon that is highlighted in the image below.
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 Unsubscribed contacts
From the list of all Contacts it is possible to filter by status of Unsubscribed.
Contacts who have unsubscribed are those who have actively requested not to receive your mailings
in future.
A contact can unsubscribe by clicking one of the links at the bottom of any of your mail shots from
Gold-Vision Connect. Once a contact has unsubscribed you are unable to contact them via email
through Gold-Vision Connect until such time that they choose to re-subscribe.
Which Mail Shot?
To find out which mail shot a particular contact unsubscribed from, click on the alert icon that is
depicted in the image below.
Re-subscribe
Click on the Edit Preferences icon to re-subscribe recipients to your mailings
 Double Opt-In contacts
From the list of all Contacts it is possible to filer by status of Double-Opt-In.
Contacts who have double-opted-in are those who have actively clicked on a Double-Opt-in link from
one of your mail shots. You may chose to only email contacts who have opted in using this preference
to satisfy and internal or external compliance request.
To learn more about adding double-opt-in links please see the mail shot custom links page.
Please Note: The use of the double-opt-in functionality is entirely optional.
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 User Settings
My Details
View and edit your user details
To edit your details change the required fields and click Save. The Username and Last Login fields
cannot be changed by the user.
Password
To change your password enter the required information and click Update:
Credits
This shows your remaining credits. 1 credit = 1 mailshot
If you have a query regarding your remaining credits, please contact your Gold-Vision Connect system
administrator.
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 Administrator Settings
Please note: only Gold-Vision Connect Administrators have access to these settings
Users
This shows a list of Users on your Gold-Vision Connect. To view or edit a user's details simply click on
their name.
Passwords – Edit your password as per User settings
Credits – View credits as per user settings
Mailshots
Replies to your Mailshots and emails sent to your Connect domain can be forwarded to a nominated
email address as per the settings below. This is set up as the Default Reply Address.
From the Settings> Mailshots area you can:
1) Decide the level of Replies you wish to receive: Never/ Always/ Known Contacts Only (valid
Connect recipients).
2) If you opt to receive Connect Mailshot replies you can set the Default Reply Address that you wish
replies to be forwarded to. Please note that this does not need to be the same as the „from address‟
that the recipient can see. This can also be changed for each individual mailshot.
Please note: your replies will always appear under the Replies section under Mail Shots regardless
of whether they are forwarded.
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From the Reply list screen you can:
1) Open each reply
2) Click through to the related Mailshot
3) Forward the email reply to another email such as one of your colleagues who you
may wish to make contact to the recipient quickly.
Replies can also be viewed in the same way for each individual Mail Shot from the Replies tab – see
Mail Shots section.
 Contact preferences
This area allows you to provide advanced selection on mail recipient preferences.
The Campaign types which are set up in your Gold-Vision system will be synchronised into your
Connect Campaign Types area:
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A Connect Administrator can then opt to Show or Hide which campaign preferences are available
when the Contact Preference Custom Link has been added to your Mail Shot design.
Connect Mail shot recipients can then edit their preferences as they wish:
This information is then stored within the Connect database and can be viewed from the Contacts list
by clicking on the Edit preferences icon:
Individual preferences updated in Connect will then automatically synchronise into your Gold-Vision
system to ensure that future Marketing Campaigns respect selected preferences.
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 Contact Update
You can choose whether you want to allow contacts to update their own details, or simply view them
so that they can inform you of changes by a different method.
Connect Administrators can choose which fields to make available for recipients to update when the
Contact Update Custom Link has been added to your Mail Shot design.
Connect Mail shot recipients can then update their contact details as they wish:
There is also the ability for Contacts to add a Note to their contact record as well.
This will automatically create a corresponding Gold-Vision Note against the relevant Contact record.
If a Contact has updated their details, then a Gold-Vision Alert type is available which is triggered by
changes from the Connect source. Alerts may, for example, create a note or an activity or send emails. See Creating Alerts in Gold-Vision for more details.
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 Contact Details Update - Gold-Vision Alert
If a Contact has updated their details, (via the Contact update link in a Connect mailshot) then a GoldVision Alert type is available which is triggered by changes from the Connect source. Alerts can be, for
example, create a Gold-Vision alert or send an e-mail to the Account Manager.
Configuring a Gold-Vision Alert
In the Gold-Vision Administration Console select
Alerting  Configure Alerting  New

Select On-Save Alert

Select Contact type

Add Alert text and notes
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

Click Add Condition
Select When the update is from a
specific source

Select
updatesource_datatransferservice
from the drop down list

Select Add Action select action from
the list e.g. Raise an Alert in GoldVision
The above example will procude a Gold-Vision
Alert when a Connect recipient updates the
Update Contact Details form.

Select the user from the drop down


Save the Alert
Activate the Alert
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Creating an Email alert

Alerting  Email Templates  New
Enter the following:






Enter Description
Gold-Vision Object – select Contact
Enter Message Subject
Type message body, adding fields, select from the list „Add item data field‟
To add a link to the Contact record in Gold-Vision clcik the Insert Link
Click Save
Follow Configuring a Gold-Vision Alert as above

Select Send an Alert via Email from the Add Action list and select the Email recipient and the
Email template
Save and Activate as above.
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